KLEE
by TheLionGarden
Summary: This is really only a creative outlet for me. Basically the story of Glee but centering solely on Kurt Hummel. First out of four installments. Hope you enjoy. Rated M for violence, possible language, and possible sexual references (I sometimes don't know my own strength). Also - DISCLAIMER: I do not own any rights whatsoever over the Glee franchise or related characters.


Chapter 1: Pilot

Kurt Hummel was miserable, to say the least.

He was lying on his back on a pile of stinky, sticky wrappers and rubbish from who knows when, happily messing up his hair and defiling his precious clothes; well, at least Finn Hudson was kind enough to lay down his Marc Jacobs jacket (lord knows he has spent about two months' worth of his allowance on that one particular piece), but knowing the lack of appreciation among the general male population of that stink hole called William McKinley High School, it was probably gathering germs, dust and wrinkles on the pavement just outside of the dumpster he was lying in.

Gathering his pride and long since accumulated upper body strength, Kurt stood up, brushed off whatever he could off of his designer pants, and clambered out of the blue school dumpster (_really?! This is what they choose to do to make a statement?_)

Ever since he was enrolled as a freshman in this hell hole Satan has dubbed as the William McKinley Public High School, Kurt Hummel was pushed, pummeled, shoved, slushied (that's having slushy cups full of chemicals and food dye – hopefully – tossed at your face… nope, not kidding), humiliated, ridiculed, and tossed into dumpsters almost on a regular basis – the almost being thankfully due to the weekend.

Making his way slowly to his homeroom after mercifully finding his messenger bag and jacket on the asphalt, Kurt cursed the fact that his only upcoming break was lunch. How the hell was he supposed to fix his now completely ruined hair and make sure his face didn't break out from the stench? He was pretty sure his hair was still smelling from whatever container was there – probably the leftovers from God knows what they put in the surprise meat special in the cafeteria.

Just to clear up a few things, Kurt Hummel lived in Lima, Ohio. A town so small and culturally deserted, that even the on-tour production of Wicked skipped them. Where public school was more like everyday torture – where the staff only cared about their monthly income, most students only cared about their hormones, and the parents only cared that they got their money's worth at school and weren't bothered with the PTA.

And to be a closeted gay in such a town was pretty much a death wish.

Yup, Kurt was screwed.

That was, until the morning announcements.

Taking his seat between overly-dressed Mercedes Jones (whom he secretly dubbed as the Technicolor Zebra sometimes on the days she chose stripes… and then the internal cringes are a constant) and the stuttering yet sweet Tina Cohen-Chang, the intercom crackled and Principal Figgins's bored voice came over the classroom, though it did nothing to shut up the chatter.

"Good morning, students of McKinley. A few announcements before we begin the day. First of all, Coach Sue Sylvester wished to announce that all students auditioning for the Cheerios should report to the gym immediately after class today only, all late-comers will not audition. Secondly, due to a very sad circumstance, Mr. Ryerson will no longer be coaching the Glee Club, and there will be an audition list posted on the bulletin board. All interested, please sign your name, and audition in front of Mr. Schuster. Football tryouts are to be held this Friday. That is all. Good day."

Kurt, who has perked up when he heard the glee club was being revamped, immediately turned in excitement in his chair, hoping to share with someone, before remembering he did not have any friends at the school. Who would want to be friends with the freak who dresses like a girl?

Despite all of the crap that has been tossed in Kurt's way, he had never tried to change who he is. What good would that do? He wouldn't feel comfortable in his own skin if he did, and it probably wouldn't stop the Neanderthals that called themselves jocks from tormenting him daily, so what was the point in trying to be someone he was most definitely not?

Having said this, he did try and express himself. He would spent countless hours at home working vigorously on his skincare routine, fixing his hair, and planning his outfits for the entire week to make sure he wouldn't clash with any of the more fashion-conscious girls at his school. Mercedes Jones and Tina Cohen-Chang were serious candidates in this category. Albeit having very distinct styles, he did have to make sure he did not outdo them or dress remotely close to them. Tina would stick mostly to the Goth side of fashion while Mercedes preferred the rowdy, bright colors that were available to her in crazed patterns to accentuate he marvelous brown complexion. This left Kurt to the subtler, softer palettes regarding colors, but that did not mean that he could be sloppy with quality. Now, his favorite Marc Jacobs jacket and Alexander McQueen high boots were ruined and no one gave a cap about the fact that he was being bullied.

* * *

During lunch break, after decidedly forgoing the awful lunch served at the school cafeteria, Kurt stashed his now-useless jacket in his locker, fixed his hair with as much hairspray as he could without destroying it, and quickly made his way to the school's bulletin board, hoping he will avoid any unnecessary attempts at shoving him into a locker.

Thankfully, the area was clear and the Glee sign-up sheet was already up. Taking a quick look at those already signed, he sighed internally. He could deal with shy freshmen like Tina and Artie Abrams, and even the diva that was Mercedes, but Rachel Berry and her stupid gold star stickers? Kurt was the last person to call someone out on being a loser, but it seemed like the girl was begging for it. She would constantly berate and tell on her classmates for in appropriate conduct, is the first to raise her hand in class, posts ridiculous (albeit good) videos of her singing show tunes on MySpace and, worst of all in Kurt's opinion, was her awful fashion sense, or lack thereof, that came in the combinations of ugly sweaters, nun skirts and Mary Janes.

To be completely honest, Kurt envied Rachel for her ability to not put stock in what people said about her at school and still pursue her dreams and put herself out there. The farthest Kurt got to rehearsing was in the privacy of his bedroom, behind a closed door, when his father was working.

He really hoped that being in New Directions would at least provide him with a little creative outlet.

* * *

Kurt was sitting backstage in the school's auditorium, awaiting his turn to audition and sweating buckets.

He had never performed live before, and he was second-to-last. Never a good spot for auditioning.

Granted, he was not competing against these students, they were all trying out to be in the same group together, but it was still nerve-wracking. Mercedes and Artie have already had their turn on stage, and they were surprisingly good. Now it was Tina and he was shocked to see that she was not stuttering when she sang Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl".

Even more unhelpful was Rachel Berry's pre-performance stupid rituals. She was going all Sharpay Evans from "High School Musical" and doing ridiculous faces and noises, and it was driving him further off the edge.

"Next up, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt looked up nervously, and walked on stage, putting Rachel, Artie, Tina, Mercedes, and most of his nerves on the chair he had just vacated.

"Hello, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'll be singing 'Mr. Cellophane.'"

* * *

They sucked. And no, he did not need Rachel to declare that.

They had good voices, and the song was good. But Mr. Schuster's' directions were awful and each and every one of them, and Kurt wished he could exclude himself, were trying to out-perform the other and be center stage.

He pitied Artie when Rachel pushed him unnecessarily hard and eventually he collided with the drawers' cabinet… that must have hurt a little.

Later that week, Rachel accosted him while he was applying his mid-day four-coat spray to his hair.

"We have a problem," she said dramatically.

Turning tiredly, Kurt gave her a once-over. "Is the problem your outfit? 'Cause let me tell you now, it's going to take more than then entire Extreme Makeover crew to fix _that_ one."

Rachel huffed, "_No_. And just so you know, just because I don't dress like a slut like the rest of the school, does not give you the right to criticize me. Besides, it's not about me."

Now, that, was something Kurt had to hear.

"We have a new member and we're meeting him today. We have to kick him out."

This was too good to be true, Kurt had to have seen this coming. "Rachel, we need more members. Or have you forgotten that we need twelve members in the club to actually qualify for state, not to mention, national competitions? We're a _team_, that means everyone is equal."

"Not when it's Finn Hudson. Kurt, don't you see? Mr. Schue is only using Finn's popularity to have more people join, and that means that the whole group dynamic is going to collapse, not to mention that the caliber is going to get so low that even Stoner Bret will be able to join."

Kurt was trying to evade her, itching further and further down the hall, but she was following him like a bee towards honey. Finally, he gave up.

"Look, Rachel. We have never heard Finn sing before, he might actually be good. And if he isn't, well, then you may kick him out. And no, I doubt Stoner Bret even knows how to differentiate Monday from Friday, so he will never join."

With that, he raced down the hall, thankful that he had French next; at least that will take his mind off of that ridiculous pink reindeer sweater.

* * *

Turns out Finn wasn't that bad of a singer. Granted, it was nasal and needed around six years of perfecting, but Kurt had a hard time enjoying himself because of Rachel.

The girl was so infatuated with the jock who could magically somewhat carry a tune, that she went even more over the top than usual and literally shoved herself into each and every one of them, ruffling Kurt's hair in the process.

If they weren't in front of a teacher and in the middle of one of his favorite songs from _Grease_, he would literally kill her for touching his face and hair like that.

Later on, she grinded up against Mercedes, who stopped the whole performance, claiming that she was not up for being a pretty thing in the background, "I'm Beyonce, I ain't no Kelly Rowland."

"Look, it's just one song, Mercedes," Mr. Schue tried to soothe her.

Kurt had to say something, because this was going nowhere and he kind of liked having Finn there – eye candy was a must, and no offence to Artie, but it was not enough – so he added, "And it's the first time that we actually sounded good."

So it was decided, they were now six.

* * *

They were screwed.

Mr. Schuster has taken them to see an invitational performance of one of their prospective competitions, Carmel High School's Vocal Adrenaline, and they were beyond good.

They had synchronism, good dance moves, killer voices, and amazing outfits.

And what did they have?

Passable vocals, zero compatibility, and a kid in a wheelchair who still had to practice dancing around in it.

They had no chance whatsoever.

And then the next day, they had an even bigger bombshell dropped on them. Mr. Schuster discovered that his wife is pregnant, so he decided to quit his job at McKinley and go and find a job at accounting to provide for his future child.

They had absolutely no chance now.

No one to believe in them, no one to tell them that they can make it, and no one to coach them to their upcoming invitational performance.

"So, does that mean I don't have to be in glee club anymore?"

Sometimes Finn had the worst tact in the world.

* * *

Kurt was about to shove Rachel off of the stage if she wasn't going to shut up.

Tina and Mercedes were having some problems with keeping up with the ridiculous dance routine that she made up for a stupid song they were trying to get down for their repertoire, and Rachel was being an annoying diva once again.

"Look, those dance steps aren't that hard. I did them since I was three months old."

"I'm sorry, did we miss the election for Queen? Because I didn't vote for you!" Kurt snapped, unable to contain himself any longer… and then Finn showed up, rolling Artie in. "This is a closed rehearsal," Kurt said, really frustrated with the amount of annoyance he was feeling right now.

Finn grimaced and tried to say something useful. "Look, I'm sorry for quitting the glee club. Truth is, I really like singing. I don't want to be the kid driving around the neighborhood throwing eggs at people."

Rachel's face was full of shocked disappointment, "That was you?"

Kurt saw this as an opportunity to get things off his chest, and also to test if Finn actually meant what he was saying or if Artie was just bribing him or something. "You and your friends nailed all my lawn furniture to my roof."

"I know, " Finn said, looking miserable just thinking about it.

"You threw pee balloons at me."

"I wasn't actually there for _that_, but I'm really sorry. Look, I really think that we can do this. With or without Mr. Schue."

And next thing they know, Finn was actually giving some really good advice about dividing up the work and putting together a relatively good number.

By the end of the week, Mr. Schuster was back, the glee club was officially back together in all its six-member glory and they were on their way to Invitationals.

And Kurt finally felt like he had a special place where he could be himself.

Almost.


End file.
